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Hampton Mansion Reopens After Major Renovations
Hampton Mansion, the centerpiece of Hampton National Historic Site, reopened in grand style on Friday, November 30th. Shortly after 11 a.m., Deputy Director Lindi Harvey walked up the marble staircase to cut the ribbon, signaling the completion of the $3.3 million, three-year-long renovation project.
“This was an enormous effort involving incredible cooperation and commitment between all divisions of the park: curatorial, maintenance, interpretation, and our friends group, Historic Hampton, Inc.,” said Gay Vietzke, the park’s superintendent.
The renovation project was the most extensive preservation effort ever performed on the 217-year-old mansion, once the largest private house in the United States.
The project centered on resource preservation, refurbishment of historic furnished interiors, and visitor safety. NPS maintenance crews spent months installing a fire suppression system throughout the mansion. In addition, a very early smoke detection apparatus (VESDA) system, which samples the air for invisible particles that might signal the pre-combustion stages of a fire, was also installed.
To protect the museum collection and historic structure, a state-of-the-art heating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system was installed. The system works by pumping heat transfer fluid through a series of pipes from the mansion to be cooled naturally in underground vertical wells. The project involved the drilling of 21 vertical wells, each 350 feet deep. Since the geo-exchange cooling system works by moving heat rather than burning chemicals, it is considered an environmentally sensitive and cost-saving form of cooling technology. The new system will provide stable relative humidity and temperature control for the museum collection.
The complexity of installing these systems in a 1790 structure, while ensuring the greatest sensitivity to historic fabric, design aesthetic, and visitor experience, was tremendous. The project was performed with extreme care so modern intrusions in the historic rooms were minimized.
The scope of the climate control/fire suppression project made it necessary to entirely empty the mansion of objects for the first time since it was built in 1790. From January to August 2005 staff, interns and volunteers packed, inventoried, and supervised the relocation of nearly 7,000 objects to climate-controlled, secure storage.
Historical accuracy and interpretive potential of the interiors were greatly enhanced by Historic Hampton Incorporated, the park’s friends group. Three period rooms were completely refurbished (the drawing room, northeast bedchamber and guest bedchamber), new interpretive objects were added to the kitchen, and a special photo exhibit was installed on the second floor. Furnishings project coordinator Gregory Weidman researched, planned, and supervised this effort.
“Gregory is a real asset to the park and we are extremely fortunate to have her as furnishings project coordinator,” said Vince Vaise, chief of interpretation.
Weidman spent nearly seven years researching, writing and implementing the historic furnishings plan for the drawing room, reflecting the period from 1830 to1860. The plan for this room alone is over 225 pages long, with 600 footnotes.
“We are confident that this installation is extraordinarily accurate and will genuinely enhance the interpretation of the mansion,” said Vietzke.
The preservation of the historic mansion and level of historical accuracy in which the rooms were refurnished was recognized by Preservation Maryland, the state of Maryland’s premiere preservation advocacy organization. The state’s oldest historic preservation organization, Preservation Maryland is dedicated to preserving Maryland’s historic buildings, neighborhoods and landscapes through outreach, funding and advocacy. This year, Hampton National Historic Site was the recipient of their prestigious “Stewardship Award” for exemplary work in installing the fire suppression and climate control systems and refurnishing the mansion.
“The reopening of Hampton is the result of three years of extraordinary work and commitment by the NPS, Historic Hampton, Inc., Constellation Energy, and GWWO Architects,” said Tyler Gearhart, president of Preservation Maryland. “The project exemplifies the best of preservation stewardship of one of Maryland’s most significant historic properties.”
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